Horse not quite right in front??

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NooNoo59

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My 14.2 has become slightly not quite right in front, this works off after about ten minutes. He had the chiropractor out about five weeks ago and she found he was very tight in the shoulder, she then came back out after two weeks and located a very sore spot on the shoulder so he had a few days off work and then light work. He seems much better but is still tight for about the first ten minutes, and then does not always feel as if he is moving freely in front. I do leg stretches before i ride and neck stretches after as advised. He is out at night and in during the day and is fifteen. I am probably worrying about nothing but just wondered if anyone had any thoughts/opinions??
 
If this is an on-going problem I would suggest getting the vet out for a look. The sore spot on the shoulder could be related to problems lower down the leg, as these can lead horses to hold themselves slightly awkwardly. I wouldn't just keep going with the chiropractor and no vet if this is on-going.
Hope you get things sorted :D
 
Chiropractor coming back out again on Thursday, so will wait to see what she advises, trotted him up out of the stable yesterday, footfall is even but he looks 'proppy' in front, could just be stiffness due to his age he is my baby and i am worried will keep you posted
 
I would probably get the vet if Chiro hasn't helped that much so far.
Had this problem with my mare, had chiro, tried various other things then decided to get vet.
Fexions were all fine, but very tight in the shoulder. Booked in for x-rays and was in fact ringbone in her pastern. It had shown up as her shoulder becuase as said above, she was holding herself funny and compensating for it!

Obviously not saying its going to be a bad prognosis but things like this could be anywhere!
Be better to know, Good luck :)
 
Think you are right, he has always been fine, will still have chiropractor but will book vet for next week. My gut instinct is that there is more to this than first thought which is very worrying, and going on the internet does not help!!
 
Chiropractor coming tomorrow, so will see what happens from there, must try to stop thinking the worst, as in my experience its the not so obvious lameness that always turns out to be the more serious, think positive !!
 
NooNoo59 said:
Chiropractor coming back out again on Thursday, so will wait to see what she advises, trotted him up out of the stable yesterday, footfall is even but he looks 'proppy' in front, could just be stiffness due to his age he is my baby and i am worried will keep you posted[/QUOTE

I think your horse is Needing to see the vet, it sounds like the shoulder problen is secondary to something else which needs identified and if possible treated.
Id have vet to see before next chiro visit if horse was mine.
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Same thing with my horse at about age 16. Got vet out who diagnosed arthritis in neck, shoulder. He was a showjumper and I think it may be more common in these athletes or if the horse has done a lot of hard/fast work. Get the vet, it may be an injury that will pass, but could be something more long term that means you need to change how you keep your pony and what you do with him. It's not fair not to get the vet out if your horse is showing signs of being in pain nor to ride them until you know what the problem is.
 
Ok chiropractor came out today and found everything good so we lunged my boy on a circle as he is lame on both reins so have booked the vet for next week, really worried about what this could be and what the prognosis will be, how do these things come at you out of the blue??
 
NooNoo59 said:
Ok chiropractor came out today and found everything good so we lunged my boy on a circle as he is lame on both reins so have booked the vet for next week, really worried about what this could be and what the prognosis will be, how do these things come at you out of the blue??
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I'm going to say the word that's in everyone's heads - "navicular". There, now that's out of the way we can all breathe again :)

NN59 don't panic. Your horse is showing classical signs of what we used to call "navicular" (it could be a number of other things but the wearing off after ten minutes is really key, as many of the others won't wear off with exercise and are less likely to appear equally bilateral)

Now, though, we know that most of what we used to call navicular is actually soft tissue damage inside the foot and there is a great deal that can be done about that, especially if your pony is currently shod and you are able to take the shoes off.

If you do get a diagnosis of lameness originating in the back half of the foot, take a look at this blog, and reassure yourself that things are not disastrous - rockleyfarm.blogspot.com

You can also check your pony before the vet comes by videoing him and watching it back in slow motion. If his toe lands on the floor before his heel, that is a foot landing that has been proved to create tendon injury inside the foot. The good news is that as soon as the horse can be got to land heel first (without shoes) then the tendon can, and does, heal.

Keep calm, you have caught it early and I'm sure there will be things that can be done to help him. Let us know what the vet says, won't you?
 
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Thank you! for saying that dreaded word, my mare was diagnosed with this but she has lots of other damage as well - i supposed years of being with horses means that word strikes a bad note in my head - will try and stay positive and not read too much diagnostic threads on the internet!!
 
Back pain is often a manifestation of lameness.

So you will need to get your vet up for a full lameness work up if you want to find out what's wrong with your horse.
 
I am taking him there so that they can have him for the day so they can do a full lameness work up, also that is the first day the vet i want him to see will be there. Chiropractor checked his back and said all seemed fine. Guts are telling me it is the front feet.
 
Should a chiropractor be diagnosing a lame horse? I didnt think they are meant to look at any 'problem' until a vet has looked at it.
 
It could be a whole host of things OP, from very minor to serious. You've done the right thing organising a lameness work up, so try not to panic before then.

Fingers crossed it's nothing that can't be sorted :)
 
A few years ago my mare felt 'not quite right' and was not striding out as normal. Got the vet out straight away and she had a check ligament injury.
 
I think the work that she did freed him up in the shoulders so highlighted that he was not moving quite right in front, she checked him yesterday for any sore spots and watched lunged on a hard surface, and did not charge me as it was just a double check on everything before we got the vet.
 
UPDATE - took pony to vets today vet thinks it may be his off side hind and he is sore in front because he is compensating. Xrays showed nothing, subtle navicular changes but thats to be expected in a horse of 15 but the bone quality is good. Nerve blocked the hind about half way down the cannon bone so could be anywhere from there to the foot, does not think it is higher as he went much better once this was nerve blocked. So have to go back next week and have the joints blocked in the fronts as these could be inflamed because of the lameness behind, and then try and locate the site of the rear leg lameness. he said the lameness was very subtle but it was there, so at least we progress a little, let you know more next week.
Just to say though my boy was a star, so well behaved and the vet and the nurse fantastic, made what could have been a very stressful day much easier to cope with for me and the pony
 
well done NooNoo and NooNoo pony, it always feels better once the dread words are out in the open and also once the vets actually get hold of the horse and can exclude some things and look at it all calmly (which as owners it is very hard to do!)

Please keep us updated on NooNoopony progress with vets :-)))
 
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